J. D. Kirszenbaum (1900–1954): The Lost Generation – La génération perdue

A testament to an entire generation of Eastern European Jewry, J. D. Kirszenbaum's artistic œuvre is showcased in this photographic and biographic reference. His peregrinations, prompted by the need to escape the oppression of his native Poland, led to a formal artistic education at the Bauhaus in Weimar, his eventual integration into the Berlin gallery scene, and the all-significant association with the School of Paris. The perpetual need to flee Nazi repression resulted in his significant part among those itinerant artists who - seeking refuge, education, personal stability and a sustainable future - developed an art redolent of nostalgia and loss. Presented in this beautiful collection, Kirszenbaum's work documents both the lives left behind in the shtetls and ghettos of Europe and the perpetual wandering of those searching for a better future, providing extraordinary insight about the collective experience of a generation now lost.